


Legacy

by bearonthecouch



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Conversations, Family Feels, Future Fic, Gen, Growing Up, Hamilton References, Survivor Guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 11:55:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15630198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bearonthecouch/pseuds/bearonthecouch
Summary: “I think,” he says quietly. “That the last thing in the world your father would’ve wanted would be to see you in that uniform. I think he would’ve killed me for letting it happen.”“Yeah,” she mutters. “I kind of figured."





	Legacy

**Author's Note:**

> "What is a legacy? It's planting seeds in a garden you never get to see."  
> \- Hamilton: An American Musical

“I didn’t think anyone else would be here,” the man says quietly.

Elicia scrambles to her feet, snapping a salute. “General Mustang!”

He snorts softly. “What happened to ‘Uncle Roy?’”

She shrugs, kicking at the dirt a little. God, she looks so _young_. Were he and Maes that young when they put on the uniform?

“I just figured, since I’m in the military now…”

Roy shakes his head. “You only have to salute me when people are watching. Maes wouldn’t… he’d never let me live it down, otherwise.”

“Okay.”

Roy takes a few steps closer to the grave, noting the fresh flowers that Elicia must have just put there, noting the weather-wear on the stone itself, though not as much as there could be. He alchemizes away the worst of it, whenever he can.

“Uncle Roy?”

He sighs, runs his hands through his hair, studies her. The uniform hasn’t changed, neither has the silver chain at her right hip, matching his own. Her light brown hair is tied back in a practical ponytail. Her green eyes sparkle with intelligence. _Maes, you should see her_ , Roy thinks, desperately. _It should be you, standing here, congratulating her. It should’ve been you there for her all these years. I always told you I didn’t know what to do with kids._

“Yeah?” he asks, breathing out slow, wondering if Elicia has any idea how uncertain he feels, standing here. Seeing her grown. General Mustang, who commands half of Amestris, with no idea what he’s supposed to say to his dead best friend’s daughter.

Guilt threads through his blood, pulsing with each heartbeat. _My fault. My fault. My fault._ _I should have been there. I should have stopped it. It should have been me instead._

“Do you think I made the right decision?”

Roy sighs. He sits down next to the grave and leans his back against it, wishing still, even after this long, that he could feel Maes’ arm around him, that he could hear the man’s laughter in his ear, not just in his head, that he was _here_. If Maes were here, he would know what to say.

Roy looks up at Elicia. She sits down next to him, in the grass, looking lost and lonely and altogether _not_ like someone who’s just passed the State Alchemist exam is supposed to look. He’d gotten so blitzed the night after his that he barely remembers it. She should be celebrating.

He turns his head to meet her eyes, and traces his finger in the dirt. “I think,” he says quietly. “That the last thing in the world your father would’ve wanted would be to see you in that uniform. I think he would’ve killed me for letting it happen.”

Elicia swallows hard, and seems to deflate. Tears well up in her eyes, and she ducks her head. “Yeah,” she mutters. “I kind of figured. But Mom said-”

“Ellie. Listen.” She looks up at him, wipes her face with the back of her hand. She holds her breath and waits. “I think he would’ve been wrong.”

“Really?”

“There are only three people in the history of Amestris who became State Alchemists before they turned twenty-one. Edward Elric. Me. And you. You’re smart, you’re strong, you’re brave, and you can make this country better. And there is too much of him in you to turn your back on that responsibility. Maes would understand that. Eventually.”

Elicia studies him for a long minute, as if searching for a trick or a trap in his words. If this isn’t what her father would’ve wanted… but it’s what _she_ wants, she’s been working toward it for years, with Roy’s blessing, and Ed Elric’s help.

She looks at the grave, reaches out to trace the letters. _Beloved husband. Beloved father_ . “I miss him,” she says, and her voice catches, and for a second she sounds like she’s three-years-old again, Roy can hear her crying. _Why? Stop! No!_ Does she remember that? She was so young. It was so long ago.

“I do too, kid,” he says softly. _More than you know._

“I don’t even really remember him, that’s the shitty part. How can I miss something I don’t remember having?”

“Because he’s your father. Because when he died, it left a… hole.”

“Yeah.”

_Water, Carbon, Ammonia, Lime, Phosphorous, Salt, Saltpeter, Sulfur, Fluorine, Iron, Silicon. And trace amounts of fifteen other elements._

You can’t bring the dead back to life. That’s been proven again and again. But every alchemist knows that list, so of course she does, and if she tried it, could he stop her?

“You know, I wasn’t much older than you were, when I lost my parents, as well.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. So I don’t really remember them either. I don’t know what they would’ve wanted for me, if I would’ve made them proud or…”

“Of course you’d have made them proud, Uncle Roy. You’re a hero.”

“Maybe,” he admits. He still wrestles with that label. “I’d like to think, instead, that I’m just a man who’s doing his best to protect the people he cares about.”

“Well, that’s something to be proud of too, I think.”

Roy smiles, still leaning against the gravestone. “You know, that’s a pretty smart thing to say.”

“I’ve been told I’m pretty smart.”

“Don’t let it go to your head.” He stands up, brushing his hands on his pants, and holds his hand out to her. “Come on.”

“Come on where?”

“I’m going to buy you a drink or several and tell you all the stories your dad would’ve never wanted you to hear, like a proper uncle.”

Elicia smiles. “Okay.”

“Okay. Go get in the car, State Alchemist. They haven’t given you a title yet, have they?”

“No. I guess they will soon. I just hope it isn’t something stupid.”

“Nah. I wouldn’t let that happen, Ellie. And neither would Maes.”


End file.
